Regions of the United States

To begin, students will be seperated into five groups and will pick out of a hat to choose one of the four: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West. The Southeast region may be added to the hat also, or it can be give to a differentiated group because it only contains 4 states whereas the other regions contain 11 and 12.
Each member of the team will take on a specific role, and will remain in that role for all three tasks. The roles will be:

The Manager; the manager's job is to keep everyone on task, to make sure that everything gets done in an appropriate amount of time and also to make sure that everyone is contributing fairly to the group work. The manager also helps to solve problems that might occur with the project or between group members.

The Clicker; the clicker's job is to stay in charge of the website browsing. He/She is the only one who can sit in front of the computer and click on the links to find all the information, but must take into consideration the suggestions of the groups members as where to go next and what to click on. The checker also makes sure that everyone understands the information before moving on.

The Writer; the writer records all of the information during the group work. This includes the writing on all the state fact sheets, the itinerary and ideas for the tri-fold region board. This person should be someone who is motivated and who has neat handwriting!

The Artist; this person will be in charge of deciding which artwork goes along with the presentations and also collects the artwork/pictures from the group and arranges them in an attractive manner on the itinerary and the board.

The Presenter; the presenter is in charge of putting together the presentation at the end of the project. This includes figuring out what is going to be said/done during the oral and visual presentations. The presenter is also in charge of displaying/playing the food and music that will be included in the region presentations.

Now, figure out a name for your group- be creative!

Each specific role is very important, but remember, the most important part about being in a group is working together! Everyone has a role, but the group will not be successful unless every role takes their job seriously and helps each other out. While one person is assigned the "Artist" or the "Presenter," it is important to remember that everyone will be participating in all aspects of the project! Assigning jobs just helps to put one particular person in charge of specific tasks to make sure that everyone stays focused.

Before you dive into your tasks, the first thing you should do is learn everything you can about the states that are in your region! On the bottom of this page is an attachment called "States of Our Region Worksheet" which will bring you to a blank document where you will be able to fill out information about each individual state that is located in your region. You may fill out the sheets in any way (with complete sentences, in note-form, etc...) as long as you can look back at them to help you put together your intinerary and presentation. These sheets will be handed in at the end of the project. These are your states:

NORTHEAST REGION: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland (11 states)
SOUTHEAST REGION: West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida (12 states)
MIDWEST REGION: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio (12 states)
SOUTHWEST REGION: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma (4 states)
WEST REGION: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Alaska and Hawaii (11 states)

Here are some resources to help you discover your states (Make sure to visit most-if not ALL-of the websites; there are some really awesome sites to explore!):

http://www.50states.com/city/regions.htm

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/map.html

http://www.factmonster.com/states.html

http://usa.usembassy.de/travel-regions.htm

http://www.postcardsfrom.com/

http://www.netstate.com/

http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/stateknow/

http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml

http://www.nashua.edu/novakc/Regions/region.htm

http://www.sfsocialstudies.com/g4/na/index.html

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/overview.html

http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/Region%20Tour.htm

http://www.framingham.com/kids/usa/us_state.htm

http://www.theus50.com/

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/TravelGuide-United_States_of_America.html

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/292/country_guide/North-America/United-States-of-America.html

This website below will be especially helpful for looking at different facts and statistics. This will bring you to a site of another WebQuest that was done about the Regions of the United States. Once you get there, click on your region on the left side of the page. This will bring you right a map of your region. Click on any state, and it will bring you right to the Official Website of the State:
http://cg043.k12.sd.us/regions%20of%20the%20US%20webquest/regions_of_the_united_states_web.htm

At this point, you should have completed your "States of Our Region" worksheets and should now be thinking....
How are my states the same/different from each other?
Why do we think that the states in our Region were grouped together?
What are some things that may set our Region apart from the others?
Why would someone want to travel to our Region?
The Writer should write record the answers to these questions on a seperate piece of paper.

We are ready to start our TASKS! Remember, T. Travel is counting on us to make sure that George Washington has a fun and memorable stay here in the United States present-day!

TASK #1:
This first task requires your group to create a 5-day itinerary that Mr. Washington might follow if he were to choose your region to stay in. This will highlight 5 of his 14 day vacation. This itinerary should highlight all the important, interesting, fun and possible historical places located in your region. Here are the guidelines for your Itinerary:

a. Be sure that your itinerary lasts for 5 days

b. Mr. Washington should be busy morning, afternoon and evening, but keep his days limited to 2 or 3 bigger activities or 3-4 smaller activities- do not drive him crazy with too many things to do!

c. Make sure that the intinerary is detailed. If he is going to a specific museum, for example, make sure that you talk about the museum, what is located inside, where and when it was built, any interesting information about the museum and (if you can find it) the museum's address and phone number.

d. Mr. Washington may use any sort of transportation, but please be realistic according to which region you are in! Examples of transportations may include: car, train, airplane, boat, cable car, by foot, horse, truck, hot air balloon, etc... Remember, the President has to get from one place to another somehow!

e. Mr. President may start and end in any cities/state/area that you want him to
f. Make sure that you include where he is staying every night (hotel, motel, inn, bed & breakfast). He may stay in one place for more than one night, but make sure that he does not stay in one place for too long!

g. Mr. Washington has to eat during his trip! Make sure you leave time for breakfast, lunches and dinners. While it is not required for every single day, you may want to include some popular/well-known restaurants, eateries, diners, etc., for him to eat at- I am sure he would appreciate the suggestions!

h. Have fun planning the 5-day trip! Think about where you would want to go and what you would want to see if you were visiting your region for the first time. What are the things that stand out most about your region? Where would your traveler have the most fun and experience the most out of your region?

i. Please include pictures that you find on your website. Create a "photo album", which could just be a page or two with a collage of pictures and some sort of title on the top of the page.

j. Your group may choose whether it wants to complete a written itinerary, a typed itinerary, or a PowerPoint intinerary. All formats will have the same format, it just depends on which one your group agrees on.

k. Be creative! If there is anything else that you think should be included in your itinerary, go for it!

Attached below is a PowerPoint Presentation that will give you more information about creating an itinerary. Before you begin the first task, please take a look so that you have an idea in your head about what yours might look like when you are complete. As always, please ask any questions if anything is unclear to you or your group members. The RUBRIC found on the "Evaluation" page will also guide your group along this process.

TASK #2:
Now that you have put together a great itinerary for Mr. Washington that will take him around some of the most fascinating spots in your region, it's time to really put together something that will catch his eye! The second task involves assembling a visual tri-fold board that will highlight everything about your region. This board will be presented in front of Mr. Washington, so make sure that it is bright, eye-catching, creative and persuasive! You may paste things on the board, use any materials that are in the classroom, or that you have or bring. Make sure that everyone contributes to the board and that it is a team effort! Everyone will be participating in the presentation at the end of the project, so while you are putting together the board, discuss what each person might want to talk about when the Region is presented.


Here are some great resources to help you with finding information/pictures pertaining to your region:

NORTHEAST

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States

http://www.vacationnortheastusa.com/

http://www.usvisitorsnetwork.com/

http://www.foliagenetwork.com/reports/northeast_us/

http://officialsite.com/index.asp?RegionId=16&CategoryID=1

http://www.travelersdigest.com/salem_2.htm

http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/index.html

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-view-363296-north_east_usa_by_rv

http://www.terragalleria.com/america/north-east/

SOUTHEAST

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_United_States

http://escapetothesoutheast.com/

http://gosoutheast.about.com/

http://escapetothesoutheast.com/Escape-AllStates.asp

http://www.segetaway.com/

http://travel.away.com/destination-guides/plan-vacation-7-464-Southeast.jsp

http://www.visitflorida.com/

http://www.louisianatravel.com/

http://www.tnvacation.com/

MIDWEST

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_the_Midwestern_United_States

http://wikitravel.org/en/Midwest_(United_States_of_America)

http://www.travelersdigest.com/midwestern_united_states.htm

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCQ/is_6_19/ai_n6146629

http://michigan.org/

http://www.wistravel.com/

http://www.travelks.com/

http://www.ndtourism.com/

SOUTHWEST

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_United_States

http://gosw.about.com/

http://wikitravel.org/en/Southwest_(United_States_of_America)

http://www.southwestdirectory.com/

http://www.grandcircle.org/

http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_native1.html

http://www.grandcanyon.com/

http://www.grand.canyon.national-park.com/

http://www.americansouthwest.net/southwest_links.html

WEST

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_United_States

http://www.travelersdigest.com/western_united_states.htm

http://www.vegas.com/

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic/

http://www.ultimateidaho.com/

http://utah.travel/

http://www.montana.ms/

http://www.greatmirror.com/index.cfm?countryid=428